• ADDRESSFACTORY WEB for address maintenance via the internet (batch matching)
• ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE for large quantities of data (batch matching)
• ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC for regular updates (batch matching)
• ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT for matching in real time (individual matching)

ADDRESSFACTORY WEB 

• is a self-service option
• the matching time is usually within 24 hours
• can process up to 500,000 data records
  
  

ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE

• an expert performs matching as a full service
• the matching time depends on the order
• can process more than 500,000 data record

The range of services of ADDRESSFACTORY has a modular structure. When checking the postal plausibility in the BasicAddressCheck module, it is irrelevant whether business or private addresses are being processed. In the name check (FormalNameCheck) and the deliverability check (PremiumDeliveryCheck) of the relevant addressee, however, both the databases used as reference and the matching algorithms are optimized for processing private addresses. For business addresses, contact us at info@postdirekt.de.

Click on the following links for the current price list for ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE, ADDRESSFACTORY WEB and the price list for ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC and ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT.

The ADDRESSFACTORY online user interface will run in all modern, commercially available browsers.

For data security reasons, new passwords must meet the following requirements:

• Minimum length eight characters, or 16 characters for administrators and system users
• Uppercase, lowercase, digits, special characters (at least three of the four character types must be used)
• No dictionary words
• No user information (user name, first name, last name)
• Different from the 13 previous passwords
• No date information
• No spaces
• No sequences of characters/numbers (abc, 123)

You can also use third-party password generators (e.g., Norton Password Generator) or local solutions (e.g., KeyPass) to generate a suitable password. Please observe the usage and security requirements of the solutions.

Before you can use our service, an internal checking and approval process must be completed. This can take up to three days. When it has finished, we will inform you by e-mail and you can start matching.

Please contact Support at support@postdirekt.de.

• BasicAddressCheck (checks an address for the correct street, town/city and postal code)
• FormalNameCheck (correction of names and adding of titles and salutations)
• PremiumDeliveryCheck (person-based, household-based and/or building-based checking of whether an item can be delivered)
• MoveProfessional (provides relocation addresses)
• DoubleClean (checking for duplicates) 
• FileMatch (negative matching against predefined negative files such as fake names and/or Robinson list)
• GeoMatch (address enhancement with geographic data)
• PhoneMatch (enhancement with telephone numbers)
• LocalMatch (enhancement with socio-demographic and micro-geographic information)

You decide which modules you want to use in your matching. Only BasicAddressCheck is mandatory. For all modules other than BasicAddressCheck, FormalNameCheck is also mandatory.

With the ADDRESSFACTORY batch options, you can have multiple files cleansed if you upload multiple files. However, the matching setting must be identical for every file within a project.

If your data are checked for duplicates, the priority order of your files will have an impact on the identification of header duplicates. Your own negative files always have priority over your own positive files. 

You have the option of using your own or predefined negative files such as the Robinson list from the DDV (German direct marketing association) or fake names lists. We process negative files with the same matching settings with which we also process your positive files. This is absolutely essential in order to be able to reliably identify matching records between positive and negative files. It is not possible to download the cleansed negative file.

Please note: if you upload a negative file to the system, a duplicate check is mandatory.

Different matching settings can be used in the online interface of ADDRESSFACTORY WEB for each project.

The matching times vary according to the size and quality of the address data you supplied and the size of the modules to be processed.

The following matching columns are relevant for a successful matching: 

• A unique ID that you can use later to allocate the data record again
• First name
• Last name
• Street
• Street number
• Postal code
• Town/city
• District (if necessary to resolve any ambiguities in the address)

Please note that your file may not contain personal data of any kind (e.g., ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health status or history, sexuality, etc.) or data whose processing represents a high risk to the rights of the data subjects (e.g., banking information, etc.).

ADDRESSFACTORY can process TXT and CSV files. The following file formats for input and output files are supported:

• Text (variable column width)
  • with the separators comma ,
  • Semicolon ;
  • Tilde ~
  • Hash #
  • Colon :
  • Tab
  • Vertical bar │
• Text (fixed column width)

The following character sets are supported: ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-15, US-ASCII, WINDOWS-1252, UTF-8 and IBM850.

If you have an Excel spreadsheet table, simply save it under "File type: Text (tab-delimited)." Please note that when saving, Excel sometimes converts the leading zero in postal codes into a space. This may need to be corrected later when address matching takes place, and there will be a charge for this.

Check that the automatically identified format and structure are correct in terms of content. You can select different field functions via the drop-down list. A drop-down menu immediately contains the most important field functions.

• For example, if you have the street and house number in one column, please define the column as "Street_House number_House number suffix"
• If the information is available in different columns, please define accordingly, e.g.: Street = "Street" and House number+House number suffix = "House number_House number suffix" 
• An alternative would be: Street = "Street," House number = "House number" and House number suffix = "House number suffix" 
• If you have the name prefix (von, van, etc.) and the last name in one column, for example, please define the column as "Prefix_Last name"

There is no upfront charge for running a matching. You will receive a matching report with a summary of the costs that would be payable for an address matching. You will not incur any charges for matching until you order the matching. In so doing you also accept the costs incurred and Deutsche Post Direkt's "General Terms and Conditions for ADDRESSFACTORY." The cleansed address data will then be available for you to download.

After batch matching, you will receive a ZIP archive with your results data in your download folder. This data can also be forwarded to another registered user of Deutsche Post Direkt's online services. The file name includes the name of the input file and information from the system - number, date and time of the matching - to make it easier to identify.

The content of the ZIP archive varies according to your filter settings for the results. Unless you ordered something else, we provide you with an overall results file. Alternatively, we can also provide you with various partial results, e.g., deliverable and non-deliverable data records. If you select a mail-shot project, you should provide the lettershop only with the file containing the deliverable data records. Please note that the system already features a mail-shot filter option, which is normally selected for mail-shot projects.
Deutsche Post Direkt always returns all the data records you provided once they have been processed. Each data record also has status keys added. These keys indicate how each data record was evaluated and corrected. It is also possible to have the original fields outputted. The outputting of these fields, combined with information provided by the detailed status keys, allows all changes to be tracked at all times.

You can find detailed information in our manual or in our help & support section.

In a mail-shot project, the data may only be used once for a mail-shot and will be forwarded directly to a lettershop of your choice. In address maintenance, you receive the checked data back and you can use it for a mail-shot or enter it in your customer database.

The wizard view and the standard view (expert mode) both feature a predefined filter option called "Mailing" (mail-shot), which provides you with a mail-shot file. The file contains information on all persons with deliverable addresses and includes relocation addresses and companies. Undeliverable addresses and duplicates have been removed. The number of persons relevant for a mail-shot can also be retrieved from the matching report.

You can use ADDRESSFACTORY WEB to receive, for example, a file with the records that have been identified as deliverable from your matching and a file with the records that have been identified as non-deliverable.

If your preferred lettershop is not registered with us yet, please tell us the details and the name of a contact. We will then conclude a letter of intent with the lettershop. Simply send an e-mail to addressfactory@postdirekt.de.

There is information about the enhanced status keys in the matching report or in the manual "Fachliche Grundlagen ADDRESSFACTORY" under the description of the key system.

Deutsche Post Direkt generally returns to the customer every data record uploaded. In so doing, every data record is enhanced with a "status" field in which the status key is saved. This status key provides detailed information regarding how Deutsche Post Direkt has rated the relevant data record and where and why it has been changed.

Deutsche Post Direkt generally stores the personal data from your matching for 90 days from receipt. If different deletion periods are required, these can be agreed upon separately.

Deutsche Post Direkt is a member of the German Direct Marketing Association (DDV) (https://www.ddv.de/) and is certified in accordance with ISO/IEC 27001 ff. TÜV Austria (https://www.tuv-ad.de/startseite/).

To ensure the secure transfer of address data, if Deutsche Post Direkt's online services are used (https://service.postdirekt.de/), your data are protected with 128-bit SSL encryption when sent over the internet. You can recognize the SSL protocol from the "https" in front of the URL of the selected page.

ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC is suitable for companies wanting to cleanse and update their consumer addresses on a regular basis. Automated address matching and data supply via the internet or SFTP server will optimize business processes at the same time. The settings for address matching are defined and automated according to company or project requirements. In addition, the transfer and collection of cleansed address data can be automated within the company and take place at regular intervals.

The ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC system uses the data exchange platform of Online Services for transmitting data to and from Deutsche Post Direkt. The data exchange platform has a multi-tenant architecture; in other words you will need your own account, which will be created when you register.

You need a user name and password to access ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC. A Deutsche Post Direkt adviser will set up the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC system for you. During the setup process, the adviser will manually match your data once in order to prepare the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC system for the format and structure of your data, select the matching settings that are appropriate for your data and determine the format and structure of the output file(s).

This collection of settings is referred to as a configuration and it effectively acts as a template for all your subsequent matchings with the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATICsystem. Normally only one configuration is assigned to a user name. However more than one configuration can be used in parallel if necessary. In this case, when you upload the data, use an ID in the file name to specify the name of the configuration to be used. This provides you with the option of also using ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC if you wish to regularly upload files with different formats or use different settings for your matchings. The number of configurations is limited to a reasonable quantity.

It is important that the record format always remains the same. Why? The configuration was created for only a single record format. This format was specified by you and stored on the server.

The easiest way of transferring data via Deutsche Post Direkt's data exchange platform is using the data exchange platform's web interface. All you need for this at your end is a web browser with access to the public internet. Once you have registered, you will receive a user account and password from us that you can use to upload data to the upload folder of the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC system. In terms of their format and structure, the uploaded files must correspond to the agreements that you have concluded with your adviser at Deutsche Post Direkt. Files that do not correspond to the agreed structure will either be rejected by the system or - if the system fails to detect the deviation - will be unnecessarily and possibly wrongly matched.

Please remember that the uploaded files are matched immediately. Once the matching is complete, you will be notified by e-mail.

It is up to you. You can choose between uploading the file as an unencrypted ZIP archive or using PGP encryption. If you choose the latter, you can encrypt the data using our PGP key and then receive the data back in encoded form using your PGP key. The relevant PGP key will be stored in the system. It is also possible to deliver data with password protection.

The text file to be matched must be uploaded to the upload folder. If you wish to match multiple files via ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC, you can send these files bundled together in a ZIP file. All the files in this archive must have the same format and structure that you agreed with Deutsche Post Direkt. Multiple files to be matched should be named using the specified naming convention. If several configurations are available, the desired configuration must also be specified; otherwise the standard configuration will be selected automatically.

If you have differently formatted or structured input files or you would like different matchings to be carried out with different matching settings, or you want to filter the provided result files in different ways, our Deutsche Post Direkt adviser will assign multiple configurations to you. A single configuration corresponds to one of your use cases. Each of the configurations will be provided with a name that will be communicated to you.

ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC will treat one of the configurations agreed with you as the default configuration. The system will then always use this configuration unless you tell it otherwise. Alternatively, you can prompt the system to select a certain configuration by using the character string --<CONFIGURATIONNAME> as part of the name of the uploaded file.

With ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC you can have multiple files cleansed if you upload multiple files that are bundled in a ZIP file. All the files in this archive must have the same format and structure that you agreed with Deutsche Post Direkt. The same matching settings will be applied to each of the files.

If your data are checked for duplicates, the priority order of your files will have an impact on the identification of header duplicates. During this check, the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC system proceeds in the following order: Your own negative files always have priority over your own positive files. Within the negative and positive files, the system proceeds in alphabetical order. If you want a priority order, you can name your files as follows, for example, "A_CustomerData.txt", "B_AdditionalCustomerData.txt", etc.

Please note: a duplicate matching of your positive files can only be performed if you have agreed matching options for the duplicate check with Deutsche Post Direkt in advance as part of your configuration.

ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC offers you the option of working with your own or predefined negative files such as the Robinson list from the DDV (German direct marketing association) or fake names lists. In order to identify the file uploaded as a negative file, choose a name for the file that starts with a minus sign, e.g., "-prepayment.txt".

Please note: if you upload a negative file to the system, a duplicate check will only be performed if you have agreed matching options for the duplicate check with Deutsche Post Direkt in advance as part of your configuration. If such an agreement has not been made in advance, your matching will be rejected and you will receive an error message.

With the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC option, if the transfer to the server specified by you fails, your file is not lost but you will receive an e-mail explaining that the files are available for retrieval from our server.

Around the clock. Advance notice will always be provided for scheduled maintenance-related shutdowns, etc.

ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT is a service in which individual enquiries are instantly checked by the matching systems of Deutsche Post Direkt and corrected where necessary. The service is available online.

The direct connection between ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT and your systems and the short response times of the Deutsche Post Direkt systems enable addresses to be updated within normal working processes. It can be integrated into your applications using a web service interface.

ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT can be tested in various ways. Your first option is to use our free-of-charge test server. It provides the same kind of interface used by the real ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT server. However, the test server only returns static changes to the data transmitted by you as well as made-up status keys. In order to use the test server, you need to ask us to set up an account for you.

The second option is to arrange a trial run of the system. Here you can test ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT with real keys and results for eight weeks.Please see the price list (price list for ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC and ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT) for terms and conditions or contact our customer management at info@postdirekt.de.

ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT is implemented as a SOAP service whereas ADDRESSFACTORY Microservices are implemented as a RESTful service.

For sporadic individual enquiries, we offer you access to the online user interface, which you can use to enter your data directly and match it. Simply log in with your username and password at https://service.postdirekt.de/ and follow the links to ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT to access the user interface.

All modern, commercially available browsers.

To perform a matching, specify the configuration settings in advance. Your adviser at Deutsche Post Direkt will be happy to inform you about the relevant options and will provide you with the appropriate configurations for your matchings.

The response times mainly depend on the latency in the internet. If the bandwidth is high enough, it is a real-time service.

Enquiries are worked through serially. Each address requires less than two seconds on average. To increase the number of enquiries, ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT can be run on several clients at once.

The connection to ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT web service is mainly over the public internet. The encrypted transmission protocol HTTPS keeps your data secure.

The system for operating the web service client must be able to make enquiries on the public internet via port 443. Only you or your provider can enable this port.

Deutsche Post Direkt will provide Java programmers with a ready-to-use web service client which can be integrated as a type of library into proprietary programs. We will send the web service client together with an example application with which the first tests can be performed even without programming. Programmers who work with other programming languages can use the standard web service tools of their respective programming environment to access the web service interface. For some programming environments, Deutsche Post Direkt will also provide brief examples in the web service documentation.

For the ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT option, you will receive the matching results for each data record immediately.

Deutsche Post Direkt is in charge of registering ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT users and activating their accounts. Your internet provider manages the internet connection. You integrate the web service interface into your application and control the application flow and system failure management (e.g., timeouts).

• You must be activated as an ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT user
• The web service client must be integrated into your application
• Port 443 in the firewall must be enabled in both directions
• A data connection from the web service client to Deutsche Post Direkt must be established over the public internet

The certification key for the Deutsche Post Direkt website (SSL server certificate) is only valid for a specific period of time, after which it needs to be renewed with a new certificate. If the certificate has an online link, it will be renewed automatically. If, on the other hand, the certificate is saved locally, it must be replaced manually with the up-to-date certificate in order to ensure continued secure access to our web server.

With ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT, Deutsche Post Direkt offers a solution in which all essential system components are designed redundantly. You do not need to take any special precautions.

Data are transmitted between the web service interface and the reference database of Deutsche Post Direkt, using the industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS, here https), which is also used in online banking, for example.